The present invention relates generally to stainless steel filter elements and more particularly to a disc-shaped all stainless steel filter element having filter media formed from air-laid, randomly disposed sintered fibers secured to a solid stainless steel hub arranged to accommodate fluid flow from outside to inside through the filter media.
It is well known in the prior art to provide filters utilizing filter elements in the form of discs which are stacked one upon the other within the filter housing. It is also known in the prior art to construct the filter elements of stainless steel to accommodate high temperature, highly corrosive operating environments. It has, however, been found that to manufacture such structures in accordance with the prior art only sintered powder stainless steel filter media have been successfully employed. Such filter media, though operational under certain conditions, have limitations which can be overcome through the utilization of randomly disposed air-laid stainless steel fibers which have been sintered. However, such filter media could not, in accordance with the teachings of the prior art, be successfully attached to the solid central hub as required for these applications.